as in tortured
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as in plagued
to cause persistent suffering to
he was tormented by nightmares about the accident
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Recent Examples of tormented
Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Dominique Marceau, a young rebel accused of murder, was a complex and tormented character, which Bardot managed to imbue with depth and authenticity.
—Bianca Novembre, Vanity Fair, 28 Dec. 2025
The psychological drama co-created by British actor Stephen Graham, who plays a father tormented by his son's crime, had only four episodes, each filmed in one continuous take.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 23 Dec. 2025
Henry is tormented by his powers and trying to keep the mysterious shadows at bay while trying to fit in at Hawkins High.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Dec. 2025
In the series’ end, Harry and his sometime school comrades and allied teachers and others, fight off said tormented self-loathing wizard as, simultaneously, fascistic muggles rise, opposing the mere existence of their kind.
—Literary Hub, 18 Dec. 2025
With the gun-toting and tormented Ghoul and the still idealistic Lucy roaming the desert in search of very different kinds of justice, Fallout Season 2 gets to explore whether the (admittedly primitive) Wasteland needs to be saved by people who'd only save part of humanity and fear free will.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 16 Dec. 2025
In the film, Millie (played by Sweeney) is tormented at her dream job by the increasingly volatile Nina (Seyfried).
—Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 16 Dec. 2025
Florida had a shot at a program-defining win against the rival that tormented it the most.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 2 Nov. 2025
Verb
But Everton’s new recruitment structure would also do well to note that Brentford agreed the deal for their hat-trick hero Igor Thiago, who tormented the Toffees on Sunday, at the end of the 2024 winter transfer window.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Dominique Marceau, a young rebel accused of murder, was a complex and tormented character, which Bardot managed to imbue with depth and authenticity.
—Bianca Novembre, Vanity Fair, 28 Dec. 2025
The psychological drama co-created by British actor Stephen Graham, who plays a father tormented by his son's crime, had only four episodes, each filmed in one continuous take.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 23 Dec. 2025
Henry is tormented by his powers and trying to keep the mysterious shadows at bay while trying to fit in at Hawkins High.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Dec. 2025
In the series’ end, Harry and his sometime school comrades and allied teachers and others, fight off said tormented self-loathing wizard as, simultaneously, fascistic muggles rise, opposing the mere existence of their kind.
—Literary Hub, 18 Dec. 2025
With the gun-toting and tormented Ghoul and the still idealistic Lucy roaming the desert in search of very different kinds of justice, Fallout Season 2 gets to explore whether the (admittedly primitive) Wasteland needs to be saved by people who'd only save part of humanity and fear free will.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 16 Dec. 2025
In the film, Millie (played by Sweeney) is tormented at her dream job by the increasingly volatile Nina (Seyfried).
—Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 16 Dec. 2025
Florida had a shot at a program-defining win against the rival that tormented it the most.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 2 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormented
Adjective
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Fitting in Marner left a team and town with a tortured history for one that knew only success without him.—
Jonas Siegel,
New York Times,
14 Jan. 2026
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Harge Aird in Carol (2015) God forbid two closeted lesbians have a little fun (okay, emotionally tortured and clandestine fun, but still) without some man coming along to ruin it!—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
25 Dec. 2025
Verb
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But the hospital has been plagued by security issues in the last few years, and a contract dispute with the nurses’ union.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
8 Jan. 2026
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Commentary and opinions Tim Walz isn’t the only governor plagued by fraud.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Piper was also cast as Skye on the show Mani at age 10 but left after Tiffany allegedly grew frustrated that another actress received more lines than her daughter, according to the docuseries.—
Emily Krauser,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
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That's described by people who were very frustrated with them in court transcripts, and that is also described in their text, but in a different way, as something joyful and wonderful.—
Mike Miller,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Because of these and other views, she was persecuted and imprisoned several times for blasphemy in England.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
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People are persecuted, people come here because of the stuff that America is doing to other countries.—
Lisa Deaderick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Broncos beat up, bruised, harassed and downright punished Herbert from the start.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
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Some writers who criticized Taylor Swift reported that they and their family members had been threatened, harassed, and doxed.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Surrounding trees, however, were not afflicted.—
Lila Seidman,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2026
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Support for Bass is more mixed, with her current record containing many more failures than have afflicted either Lurie or any other recent Los Angeles mayor.—
Thomas D. Elias,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Windy City is suddenly besieged by a string of bomb threats, but in the midst of all the false alarms, a real situation emerges in the form of military-grade smoke grenades, which points to a terrorist threat.—
Will Harris,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Jan. 2026
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Halladay said she’s heard from multiple doctors, including her child’s pediatrician, that they’ve been besieged with calls from parents hoping to get a prescription.—
Tom Bartlett,
The Atlantic,
19 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The project marks the feature directorial debut of Mike Hatton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Sloan, and stars as a harried independent producer.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Jan. 2026
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There is the harried but successful sister (Winslet), the black sheep sis (Collette) who’s into chakras and movement therapies, the loyal-to-a-fault, repressed stay-at-home son (Flynn) and so on.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
24 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tormented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormented. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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